


Light In The Hallway

by AlexTWDgf01



Series: Extended Family [2]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: 3 of my OCs are the Grunkles' niece and nephews, AU where Stan got Ford out the portal six years early, Brotherly Love ❤️, Ford has kids, Hurt/Comfort, Near Death Experience, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Stangst, Stanley Adam and Shirley are Hntrgurl13's OCs but they aren't they're one year apart from each other, Tears, The kids only appear for a few short moments, They make up in the end, and one is Ford's son, part of my TWDgf au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-09-16 17:07:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16958073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexTWDgf01/pseuds/AlexTWDgf01
Summary: Ford was knocked breathless when his brother threw himself into his chest, wrapping his arms so tight around him that it made it hard to breathe. He gave Stan an incredulous look."What in blazes are you doing?" he almost growled, going to pry Stan's arms from around him."P-please don't leave me..."





	Light In The Hallway

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry guys. I know I keep reposting and changing this fic, but when I posted this I was super tired and not really paying attention to what I was doin'.

It was late that Thursday night, five days since Ford had come through the the portal. The kids were asleep in their rooms and the old scientist was in the kitchen, eating and studying something in his journals. All the while, Stan was fast asleep in his room. Though, it wasn't a peaceful sleep.

He was tossing and turning, trying to escape a nightmare which haunted his mind. Stan was running. Running fast, away from someone he owed money. They were chasing him down a car, ranting and raging at him. The vehicle drew closer and closer and closer. Right as the car was about to hit him, the dream shifted.

Stanley looked around. He was now in the basement with the kids. The portal was open and a figure stumbled through. Alex had grabbed her younger siblings and shoved them behind her as P.J. did the same with her. Everyone watched on in awe and confusion. Then, things went to hell.

The figure's legs wobbled under him and he collapsed. Stan immediately jumped to his feet, running to catch them. When he got there, he pulled back the person's goggles and scarf, revealing Ford's face.

"No...nonono." Stan mumbled, catching sight of the large gash at his brother's side. "No! F-Ford!"

"Stan? W-why did you take so long?" Ford gasped out.

"I-I tried-"

"That's wasn't good enough...I still got hurt. You did this, Stanley. You killed me."

"No, I got you out. T-this shouldn't be happening. I worked so hard!"

"Not hard...enough..." 

Slowly, Ford's eyes slipped shut and his breathing ceased. Stan's heart stopped just as his brother's did. His eyes teared up as he pulled the still body close.

"NO! STANFORD!"

"GAHH!" Stanley yelled in a strangled cry as he launched himself up in bed.

He heaved in gulps of air, trying to breathe after such a traumatic nightmare. It's wasn't seeming to work though as his heart thundered in his chest, his breathing was shallow and strained, and he couldn't make sense of what's real and what's not. Was Stan's nightmare really just a dream or did it happen? Was Ford home? Was he safe? Was he alive?

Heart rate accelerating at these thoughts of uncertainty, Stanley jumped out of bed and raced from his bed room. He sped down the hall and turned the corner to enter the living room, only to collide with someone. He looked up and was met with the wonderful sight of his brother's face.

'Oh, thank god.' he thought, relieved.

"Stanley?" Ford asked, giving his twin a quizzical look. "Is everything alright?"

Stan didn't respond, still struggling to breathe. He now knew that Ford was okay, but it still did nothing to calm him. He slammed his head into the wall behind him a few times, trying to stop the panic attack or at the least, make himself pass out so his heart and lungs would calm.

"Stanley!" Ford yelled a bit in surprise, leaning close to place a hand behind his twin's head so he'd stop. "What's wrong with you?!"

"G-gah-..." Stan tried to speak, only for his throat to close up on him.

So, even with his twin's hand behind him, he still continued to bang his head against the wall. Eventually, Stanford had to just pull him away from the wall, still holding the back of his head.

"Stan? Come on. Why are you-oh." Ford said as he finally realized what was going on. "Stan, can you hear me?"

Stan nodded, eyes not meaning his brother's, but trained on his chest.

"Okay, listen. You need to do what I say. You need to breathe. In and out. In...and out." Stanford said, doing the breathing exercise himself.

His twin tried following along, lungs fighting for control, but he still couldn't. It hurt his chest to even breathe out. Ford noticed immediately, giving his brother a worried glance. With a sigh, he took Stan's hand into his and placed it over his own chest, interlacing their fingers together.

"Focus on my breathing, okay? Fall into the same rhythm." 

Stanley focused intently on his twin's breathing, chest now aching as he attempted at taking in the air he needed. He breathed in shakily and let it back out. In and out. In and out. In and out.

He continued this process for a while until his breathing was in sync with Ford's. Even though he'd calmed down, neither moved from their position. The thing is that it wasn't just the technique that had helped Stan through the panic attack. It was also the reassuring touch from his brother.

The way his six fingered hand encased Stan's five fingered securely to his chest, over his warm, beating heart. How just his presence was nice. It was all just so soothing. This all reminded him of the past, of Jersey, of home.

All too soon, though, Ford pulled away, releasing his brother's hand, leaving him to feel cold and empty again.

"Feel any better now?" Stanford asked.

"I...yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." Stan replied, moving away from the wall.

"So, what caused you to have a panic attack?" Ford asked, crossing his arms.

"I'd...rather not discuss it, if you don't mind." 

"Was it a nightmare?"

"I said drop it, Poindexter." Stan grumbled, moving past his twin and heading back for his room.

Ford didn't try pressing the matter any further, only giving Stan a quizzical look before heading back into the kitchen. By the way Stan was acting, he knew it was most definitely a nightmare. To be honest, he could care less. He was still furious with him for opening the portal.

He couldn't deny that when they had touched that he felt safe and happy.

 

 

//The next night//

 

 

Stanley was back at it again, tossing and turning, but from a different nightmare. He and Ford were fighting and things were getting rather heated. At one point, his brother threw him against a wall, telling him how worthless he was and how much he hated him.

He said that he'd wished he was never born, that his chance at the most prestigious college and him falling through the portal wouldn't have happened he never existed. Tears formed in Stan's eyes as Ford turned his back on him and left.

"No, wait! Stanford, please don't-" Stan cried, only to be ignored as Ford left. "Leave..."

Stanley woke with a jolt, grasping at his heart as he panted, tears streaking down his face. Why did he keep having such vivid dreams? Was it just another dream? Had Stanford actually left?

He went to jump to his feet and race down to the basement, but he suddenly felt something shift beside him. Stan looked to his side and long behold, there was Ford.

He was sitting at the head of his bed, looking a bit startled when Stan had jumped up. Ford had come to watch over him in case he had another panic attack. So when his brother begun tossing around, making strangled whimpering noises, he tried shaking him awake.

"Easy, Stan. It's just me. You're okay." Ford assured, resting a hand on the other's shoulder.  
"You're sa-UGH!"

Ford was knocked breathless when his brother threw himself into his chest, wrapping his arms so tight around him that it made it hard to breathe. He gave Stan an incredulous look.

"What in blazes are you doing?" he almost growled, going to pry Stan's arms from around him.

"P-please don't leave me..."

Ford froze at those whimpered out words. With time slowed and his own voice silenced, he could here the muffled sobs and whines coming from Stan. He sounded awful. So vulnerable. He'd only seen him this scared and upset when they were twelve, after their father had verbally and physically abused him.

Letting old instincts take over, he wrapped his own arms around Stanley's shoulders. One of Ford's hands gripped the back of his twin's wife beater while the other soothingly caressed his hair.

Stan continued to shake, tears soaking through the other's sweater, but the eldest twin could care less in that moment. He needed to calm his baby brother down and that's what he tended on doing.

"Shh. It's okay. Shh." Ford whispered soothingly.

"D-don't leave me...please don't leave me..." Stan continued sobbing out.

"...I'm not." Ford said. He didn't know what else to say.

"Y-you...won't le-eave me?" Stan asked, looking up at his brother with uncertain eyes.

"No. I promise." Ford replied, tightening his hold slightly.

Stan let out a long, shuddering breath as he slumped down, arms now around his brother's waist and face in his lap. Relief flooded his systems as he began to cry anew, but they were now tears of joy.

Ford had no idea the kind of dream his brother had just faced, but he knew it had to do with him. And it must have been bad.

"I missed you." Stan whined.

"I missed you too." Ford said before he even knew he was talking.

His words surprised his brother just as much as they'd surprised him. To be honest, they just slipped out without much thought. It was just instinct. 

Stan sniffled, pulling himself back into a sitting position, watching his brother with a bit of skepticism. Ford did the same momentarily, before resting a hand on the other's cheek, wiping away his tears. 

In that moment, they both felt the electric wave of deja vu hit them at once. It was overpowering as it reminded them of their younger days, comforting each other after either the bullies or their father had been assholes towards them.

That and just the fact of being close, keeping contact with one another by just simply holding hands always seemed to...to balance them. It made them feel at peace. 

When they'd first been separated at eighteen, they'd both noticed a change in themselves. They began feeling angry all the time, having more gloomy days, and feeling lost, cold...empty. Without the other around, they were no longer balanced and their judgment became clouded. They were never the same.

Ford leaned closer to his twin, placing a kiss to his temple. Stan smiled at the action, going to say something before being suddenly interrupted. Both flinched as they heard the bedroom door creak open. Looking toward the source of the noise, they spotted Alex as she glanced groggily up at them.

"Oh. H-hey, munchkin. Why're you up so late?" Stan asked, taking Ford's hand from his face and resting both of theirs on his lap.

"Insomnia." the eight year old replied with a yawn. "What's goin' on?"

"Ah, it's nothing. Don't worry about it." Stan said flippantly.

"Really? You and Grunkle Ford in the same room, not at each other's throats? Clearly, there's something that happened here." Alex said, crossing her arms.

"Your...Grunkle Stan here was just having a nightmare. I came in to wake him up." Ford said with a kind smile to his niece. "And now he's awake, so I'm gonna go catch some sleep myself."

With that, Stanford stood up and begrudgingly released his brother's hand. He strode past Alex, patting her on the head as he disappeared. Stan watched as he went, sulking a bit at his leaving before picking his niece up and sitting her in his lap.

"You needin' anything before I go back to sleep?" 

"Orange juice?"

"Orange juice."

 

//Morning//

 

 

"Breakfast! Come and get it!"

All the kids were rambling about the kitchen, getting breakfast for themselves as Stan dished them out. Mabel, Dipper, Axel, Justin, and P.J. sat a the table while Shirley, Little Stanley, and Alex went into the living room. The only person missing was...

"Uncle Stan, where's my dad?" Little Stanley asked.

"Yeah? Daddy always comes up for breakfast." Shirley added.

"He's probably still in the basement. Might have have worked himself till he passed out." Stan replied. "I'll go find the nerd."

Stanley made his way down the elevator and to the basement, grumbling a bit at having to do so. He walked into the control room, glancing around for a moment before a familiar grey mop of hair caught his eye.

He drew closer and noticed that Ford was asleep, drool trailing over his arm. Rolling his eyes, Stan placed a hand on his shoulder, only to realize that was a mistake.

Stanford shot up from his desk, backhanding his brother, causing him to fall back with a startled yip. Stan rubbed his cheek, anger flaring in his bones.

"What the hell was that-" Stan was cut off when a click sounded in front of him.

He froze when his gaze met with a gun pointed towards his face, only mere feet away. Ford had his teeth ground and his eyes shut. He wasn't conscious.

"F-Ford?"

A shot rang out, Stan barely being able to jump out of its way. His heart began to race as he believed that he was about to die.

"POINDEXTER! STOP!"

Ford was about to fire again, finger on the trigger, before he stopped. His eyes open, flickering around a moment before landing on Stan. At seeing him, he dropped his gun, covering his mouth in horror as tears formed in his eyes.

"Stanley? I-I-I, buh-I didn't..." Ford stuttered, heart hammering in his chest just as fast as Stan's, crouching in front of the other. "I'm so sorry! I-did I h-hurt you?"

"N-nah. I'm okay." Stan said, rubbing his rapidly bruising cheek.

"Your face. I hit you." Ford said, moving the other's hand so he could see the damage.

"It's fine, seriously." 

Stanford didn't listen, tracing his shaky fingers delicately over the swollen skin. He hissed sympathetically. Without much thought, he leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss against Stan's cheek. 

Stan winced a bit, though the kiss hadn't hurt. 

"I'm so sorry. I-I almost...I almost sh-shot you." Ford apologized, shook by the fact that he'd almost blew his twin's head off.

"You didn't, though. It's-"

"Don't you dare say it's okay! It's not!" Ford shrieked, tears now streaming down his face. "I could have just KILLED you! M-my own twin!"

Stan sat quietly, shock-stricken by his brother's outburst. He'd expected Ford to be pissed that he nearly gotten himself shot, but he hadn't expected him to get upset. Now, his twin was curled in on himself, twelve nails dug into his scalp.

Slowly, Stan reached out, grasping the other's wrists and pulling his hands from his head so his slightly bloody hands wouldn't be causing his big brain harm. Ford glanced up at him through tear-drenched eyes, looking so much like a lost, scared puppy.

Scooting closer, Stanley wrapped his twins arms around his neck before wrapping his own around his waist. Ford let out a startled animal noise, tensing up for a moment before burying his face pathetically into the other's neck and letting out his cries of anguish.

Stan rubbed his back soothingly, feeling himself curl protectively around his twin. Protecting him from the cruel world around them. It had been so long since he'd done this, but brotherly instincts beat all. 

Out of no where, a small six fingered hand rested over his shoulder. Stan jumped in response, pulling his twin tighter into his embrace as he turned his head. Yet again, there was Alex. How the hell'd she get down here without being heard.

Alex stared silently at them for a moment, giving her Grunkle Ford a sad look before pulling out what looked like a miniature speaker with an on/off switch and volume dial. She turned it on and placed in on a nearby desk, going and hugging the two with her little arms.

Then, the air was filled with soft music.

 

~Close your eyes, lay your head down  
Now it's time to sleep  
May you find great adventure  
As you lie and dream  
If you're scared of the darkness  
I will calm your fear  
There's a light in the hallway  
So you know I'm here~

 

It sounded like a lullaby of some sorts, one neither twin had ever heard before. Nonetheless, the quietly listened. 

 

~So count your blessings every day  
It makes the monsters go away  
And everything will be okay  
You are not alone  
You are right at home  
Goodnight, goodnight~

 

Over time, as the song played on, Ford started to calm down. His sobs turned to the occasional hiccup, his quakes ceased, and his tears lightened up. Though, he still kept his face buried in Stan's neck, seeking the close comfort he'd been deprived of for four decades.

 

~You won't need me forever  
But I'll still be here  
For we all have our nightmares  
Even me, my dear  
From now on, if you need me  
You can sing this song  
There's a light in the hallway  
Burning all night long

So count your blessings every day  
It makes the monsters go away  
And everything will be okay  
You are not alone  
You are right at home  
Goodnight, goodnight  
Goodnight, goodnight  
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh~

 

The song soon died off, the room now silent. Stan sighed, pulling back from Alex and his brother, who whimpered in displeasure. He ran his fingers through Ford's hair reassuringly to quiet him.

"Feeling better?" Stan asked, resting his hand on the other's cheek.

"Yeah." Ford sniffed, leaning into the touch.

"Now listen to me. What happened just now wasn't your fault. I startled you during one of, what I assure, your nightmares. You weren't conscious to respond properly. So don't blame yourself...because I don't blame you." Stan said, bumping their heads together. "I love you, Poindexter."

And Stan meant every word.

"...I l-love you, too." Stanford whined, closing his eyes as they began to sting again.

The two sat quietly, no waits needed to compel their love for each other. 

"Sssoo...are you two okay now?" Alex asked, startling them yet again by accident.

The two looked at her, then at each other. In tandem, their hands found the other's, intertwining their fingers together. They smiled and turned back to Alex.

"Yeah."


End file.
